Having achieved a successful run, C4 have now announced that they have secured rights to air the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi (Russia) and the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), committing over 45 and 500 hours to the respective multi-sport events.

In addition, Channel 4 will continue their coverage of para-sport through a range of events in the aftermath of London 2012 and leading up to Rio 2016, beginning this July and August with the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon (France), and the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships from Montreal (Canada).

The move gives the channel a further foothold in a general sports broadcasting market that they had rarely (and often unsuccessfully) touched before 2012, and will look to follow on from their success through this blanket deal with the IPC (International Paralympic Committee), who previously claimed that the record UK viewing figures surpassed their ‘wildest dreams’ for TV coverage of London 2012.

Sir Phillip Craven, the president of the IPC, noted: “We are delighted to extend our partnership with Channel 4 following its stunning success in covering the London 2012 Paralympic Games. With London 2012, Channel 4 created a blueprint for how a commercial broadcaster can raise the profile of Paralympic sport and its athletes to new levels. They reached record audiences, in particular young people, identified and developed some fantastic new presenting talent and played a significant role in delivering seismic shifts in attitudes and perceptions towards people with an impairment in the UK.

“This is the first time the IPC has agreed a two-Games deal with a TV station and I would like to thank Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 for their support and co-operation. To sign up such a high quality broadcaster so soon after the conclusion of the Games underlines the growth of the Paralympic Movement and the significant impact London 2012 had.”

Channel 4’s chief executive David Abraham summarised: “The London 2012 Paralympic Games was a landmark moment in the history of broadcasting Paralympic sport. Not only did Channel 4’s coverage reach record audiences but, more importantly, it had a meaningful and positive impact on UK attitudes to disability and disability sport in general. I’m delighted that we have the opportunity to build on this achievement over the next four years and to work alongside the IPC to deliver both the Winter Games from Sochi in 2014 and the Summer Games from Rio in 2016.”

Also confirmed as returning as the official highlights and comedy recap show of Channel 4’s coverage in 2014 and 2016 is The Last Leg, presented by Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe, and Alex Brooker, and currently broadcasting a non-Paralympics series that looks at the news stories of the week.

The most popular segment of that show is a ‘controversial’ Q&A section called ‘Is It OK?’, in which the presenters (two of whom have disabilities) address queries from viewers (mainly through Twitter) that ask if touchy issues (mainly regarding disability) are ‘OK’ to discuss or do (such as ‘Is It OK to ask how a swimmer with no arms gets out of a pool?’). A new question for that segment could come from this website – ‘Is It OK that we accidentally wrote a blog post about the Paralympics immediately after one about the cancellation of road safety adverts?’. Cue the inevitable groans…

[…] The mainstream TV coverage, set to be held mainly on BBC Two, will begin at 07:00 each morning for a 12-hour run before the broadcast of an hour-long highlights show at 19:00 each evening, excluding less busy days such as the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. For alternative options, BBC Radio 5 live will serve UK listeners with ‘regular updates’ and internet users with live text commentaries via the BBC Sport desktop and mobile website along with BBC Sport app, with a similar approach planned as the forefront of their efforts at the 2014 Winter Paralympic Games (held between 7-16 March), which are to be broadcast in the UK region by Channel 4. […]